Time Out

It's been such a busy time here in the lovely country of Northumbria, which explains the scarcity of posts from your Cat of late.

The reason for this is that we've all been getting ourselves geared up for the Great Public Sector Workers' Strike. All (well, nearly all - perhaps some) of the townspeople of Streonaeshalch have been occupied, trying to spruce the place up for such a glorious occasion - which is quite a mean feat, given the characteristically grey and cheerless time of year we're now in. But this is evidently a great beacon of hope for the townspeople - especially for the kindergarten teachers and their assistants, lunchtime supervisors, pigeon psychologists, dog log spotters, diversity administrators, homeopathic advisors, fish quota accountants and the legions of civil servants. Naturally, those who aren't privileged enough to be employed by the Northumbrian state apparatus aren't anything like as passionate about the issues which are precipitating the stoppage - which is terribly selfish of them; after all, the public sector wouldn't hesitate to show their fraternal support for their less fortunate comrades, would they? And if there's one thing I've gleaned from all of this, it's the understanding that within Trade Guild circles, it's the selfless principle of all for one and one for all.. Whatever.

Feaxede has been on the forage for extra scraps of chicken carcasses, which he intends to store up to see him, the vixen and the cubs through this time. He - being a Redistributionist supporter - is entering to the spirit of the occasion, and he's very much in favour of the strike action. But as far as I can discern, it doesn't make a scrap of difference to Feaxede whether there's a strike or not, since he only depends on the discarded detritus of human society, which will still continue to provide him with his favourite sustenance. When times are really hard, maybe then there won't be any discarded chicken carcasses, since it's more likely that the thrifty Northumbrians will be obliged to use every remaining scrap of gristle, and grind and boil the bones for broth. If the poor, down-at-heel public sector employees have to pay a few groats extra towards their sumptuous pension schemes, (at the tax-payers' expense, of course) and have to work a year or two more, it's of no consequence whatever to him. I can only guess that he's just giving his moral support; they certainly don't need him. I've tried to explain this to him, but his loyalty to the Cause appears to blind him to reason...

My own position on this is more ambivalent. I'm very happy for the Northumbrians, as it's something that brings them together in their menial and tedious existence, and I'm always in favour of any excuse for people to let their hair down and parade their ignorance of the Anglo-Saxon language with ungrammatically written placards and their greengrocers' apostrophes. I'm very much a party animal. Everyone needs a party cat. But I've also got my feline head screwed on, and I get the distinct feeling that most of those eagerly supporting this day off from the ravages of toil and industry haven't really thought the matter through. Isn't their posturing more likely to put their jobs more at risk by antagonising the Tree/Liberationist Administration? Anyway, I reckon the Kingdom would still continue to run along smoothly if it only had one solitary Diversity Coordinator - or even less than that...

Even Edweird the Milliner - the Beloved and Glorious Leader of the Redistributionist Faction - has expressed some doubt about the desirability of this action. Of course, he could be saying one thing and signifying another - but I don't think he's clever or devious enough to do that.

But I'm looking forward to the Great Day - if only for the comedy spelling and punctuation on the placards of the teachers.. Bring it on, people!